The rocket lofted an uncrewed mockup of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, which is designed to one day carry both crew and cargo to orbit. “This has been a good day for SpaceX and a promising development for the US human space flight programme,” said Robyn Ringuette of SpaceX in a webcast of the launch.

Advertisement

In a teleconference with the media on Thursday, SpaceX’s CEO, Paypal co-founder Elon Musk, said he would consider the flight 100 per cent successful if it reached orbit. “Even if we prove out just that the first stage functions correctly, I’d still say that’s a good day for a test,” he said. “It’s a great day if both stages work correctly.”

SpaceX hopes to win a NASA contract to launch astronauts to the International Space Station using the Falcon 9. US government space shuttles, which currently make these trips, are scheduled to retire for safety reasons at the end of 2010.

Cargo ship

Based in Hawthorne, California, SpaceX already has a contract with NASA to carry cargo to the station using the Dragon and Falcon 9 vehicles.

The next flight of the Falcon 9, which would carry the first real Dragon capsule into orbit, could lift off within a few months.

A third Falcon 9 flight is scheduled for early 2011 and would send a Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. This was originally planned merely as a test flight, but NASA and SpaceX are discussing the possibility of carrying cargo, such as food and water, on that flight.

SpaceX has been at the centre of controversy over the future role of commercial rockets in NASA’s human space flight plans. Critics have argued that private companies are not ready to safely fly astronauts to orbit.

Early failures

But the Obama administration is seeking to cancel Ares I in favour of using commercial space taxis to carry crew to the space station – though it is still waiting for the necessary approval from Congress.

In the Thursday teleconference, Musk said he put the odds of a successful first launch at 70 to 80 per cent. But he sought to forestall criticism in case of a failure. “Tomorrow’s launch should not be a verdict on the viability of commercial space,” he said.

Historically, the success rate has been low for the first few flights of new rockets, he added.

SpaceX’s smaller Falcon 1 rocket had three failed launch attempts before its first success.

And the Atlas family of rockets had a string of early failures before it was used to launch NASA astronauts in the 1960s. “Now, Atlas 5 is arguably the most reliable vehicle in the US fleet,” he said. The Atlas 5 has been proposed as a possible carrier for astronauts to orbit as well.